One of the overarching themes of this year’s readathon is to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its founding. As such, the organizers have issued this challenge:

Submit one book recommendation published in each year of the Readathon (2007-2017).

All were five-star reads, unless otherwise noted:

2007: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

2008: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

2009: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (4 stars, although I think I should bump it up to 5 in retrospect)

2010: Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson (4 stars)

2011: The Night Circus by Emily Morganstern

2012: Endangered by Eliot Schrefer

2013: Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan

2014: The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez

2015: Uprooted by Naomi Novik

2016: The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

2017: Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper

Do you have any favorite books from that time period?

Today I’m taking part in the 10th anniversary of Dewey’s Readathon. I’ll be spending a nice portion of my day reading, but it’s not going to be all 24 hours. For instance, I neglected to set my pre-8 a.m. alarm, so am only just getting started now.

First, though a few housekeeping items:

Opening meme:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?

Washington, D.C.

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?

Probably Jason Reynold’s Miles Morales. But I’ve also begun You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins, which I’m enjoying. And I’m at an exciting spot in The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willis. Oh, and there’s Leah Bardugo’s Wonder Woman novel, Warbringer, yet to start…

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?

At some point early this afternoon, my partner Rudi will come home from work and I’ll break with reading to bike up to one of our local libraries, check out their book sale and new Michelle Obama photo exhibit, and then investigate a new cafe in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!

I like to read (obviously), knit, listen to music, and play with my two cats, Jeremiah and Corey, both of whom are hanging around waiting for me to give them breakfast. I like YA and middle-grade novels, less depressing literature, cozy mysteries, memoirs, and some fantasy.

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?

I think this is my fourth readathon, and mostly I’m not going to stress about it, because it’s supposed to be fun. If at any point it stops being fun, I’ll dial it back.

Off to start reading…